The brain makes up only 2% of total body weight, yet it is a demanding organ that uses up to 30% of the day's calories and nutrients. (Harris, J. J. et al, The Energetics of CNS White Matter. Jour. of. Neuroscience, January 2012: 32(1): 356-371). The human brain and nervous system begin forming very early in prenatal life and both continue to develop until about the age of three. This early development can have lifelong effects on overall brain and nervous system health. Accordingly, brain nutrients can be important additives in the diets of infants, children and pregnant and lactating women because of their ability to promote early brain development and prevent and protect from brain and nervous system injury or illness. Additionally, brain nutrients are important for adults, as many nutrients promote nervous system repair and provide neuroprotective health benefits.
Brain nutrients have become increasingly important additives in the diets of infants, children and pregnant and lactating women because of their ability to promote early brain development. Additionally, compounds useful for treating neurodegenerative disease or brain injury are continuously being sought. Neuro-toxic compounds, such as environmental, industrial or dietary toxins, need to be identified in order to remove or reduce exposure to such compounds. Methods for discovering such nutrients and toxins are often extremely time consuming and inefficient. Accordingly, there is a need to provide a reliable, consistent, and fast method for identifying compounds having neurological development benefits. Additionally, there is need to identify compounds that are neurologically harmful.
It has been demonstrated that stem cells, such as adipose-derived stem cells (ADSCs), can be differentiated into multiple mature cell phenotypes, including neuronal cells, in a reproducible manner. In particular, this has been demonstrated in human adipose-derived stem cells (hADSCs). hADSCs are a particularly useful research tool because they are readily available from commercial resources or liposuction procedures, and they do not involve the same potential controversies that arise from the use of embryonic stem cells. Furthermore, hADSCs are easily obtained from an individual patient, thus providing an opportunity for personalized medicine.
Numerous nutrients are believed to be involved with supporting healthy brain development. Recently, however, it has been discovered that cholesterol and oxysterols promote neurogenesis and/or neuronal differentiation on human adipose-derived stem cells (“hADSCs”) and human neuronal stem cells (“hNSCs”).